I'm tired of all the DC area people bashing: tell me what you like about living here!

[Anonymous]

I like the fact that my ears don't pop when I take an elevator to my office.

[Anonymous]

4 seasons

a city where you can see and feel the sun.

walkability

a place where people still get excited when it snows.

[Anonymous]

the only good thing about this city is the federal govt makes it almost recession proof. If you lose your job in the private sector (as I did recently), you can be somewhat comforted by the fact that there are many govt or quasi-govt jobs in the same area.

[Anonymous]

free museums

free parks

restaurants

politics -- news -- our local news is everyone else's national news

close to the mountains and beaches

the city, for all its problems, is beautiful

[Anonymous]

I like:

My down to earth friends. We have an assortment of the kind of jobs people come here for, but mostly we just enjoy our kids together.

My job. Can't do it anywhere but here.

My husband and I both have good careers, and we aren't trapped by the other's opportunities (ie. if he were a prof in Iowa, I'd be teaching at a community college if I was lucky - or vice versa.)

My child attends good schools and has lots of cultural opportunities.

It is easy to be a working mom here - school has high quality extended day, there are many camps, there are many people like me.

It is interesting, reasonably close to different things - mountains, oceans...

I don't like the heat.

Decent food (although we could use with a few more decent diners).

[Anonymous]

I like...

4 seasons

all the historical buildings, monuments, and museums (most that are free admission)

the nation's capital - what could be more awesome? I feel like we take it for granted. People come from all over the country and the world to see this place!

[Anonymous]

Free museums, Adam Caskey on NewsChannel 8 and the 4 seasons (although I can't afford to stay there).

[Anonymous]

I moved from the West Coast 2 years ago and it IS a much faster flight to Europe. It took me awhile to acclimate to living here, but I wouldn't change now. I don't WANT to go back to Seattle. DC (believe it or not) feels much less insular. My neighbors are more friendly here, truly. I feel like I fit in here better, and I grew up in Seattle/Pacific NW my whole life. I also think this is a better town for toddlers. We hitch up the stroller and can go anywhere - no need for a car at all. Love it.

[Anonymous]

D.C. is a beautiful city, something I usually take for granted until I go somewhere else and then come back. There are trees everywhere, Rock Creek Park, and interesting architecture in all of it's neighborhoods. Speaking of neighborhoods - there are great neighborhoods in this city where you can walk to everything you need and raise your children. Diversity, people from all over the world. I love going to be local park and hearing several different languages. I love the fact that people here are well-read and interesting. This does not necessarily translate into being snobby.

[Anonymous]

Metro is second to none.
I can live in Chevy Chase and get all the benefits of a small town and still be minutes away from a vibrant urban environment.
Close-in suburbs are pretty cool (Bethesda, Arlington, Old Town...even Takoma Park and Silver Spring) and add a lot of value to D.C. proper.
D.C. United, Nats and Caps games
Georgetown
Smithsonian
Dupont Circle
Gallery Place
National Geographic Museum
Walkable
Rock Creek Park, C&O Canal, Capital Crescent Trail
Union Station
National Airport
Fort Reno
Wilson Aquatic Center
The FDR Memorial at Night
I run into Republicans on a regular basis and I'm reminded as to why I'm NOT a Republican.

[Anonymous]

I love the parks -- the big ones like Rock Creek Park and Wheaton Regional/Brookside Gardens -- and also the little ones. I grew up near LA and the playgrounds/neighborhood parks density is WAY higher than where I grew up. It's fabulous.

I love the museums and zoo, and I LOVE that they're free.

I love the Metro. Yes, it could be better, but again -- grew up in LA! Just HAVING a Metro system that can get you lots of places is fantastic.

I love the milder winters... I lived in Boston for years before moving here. I loved Boston and still do, but (as fun as the occasional blizzard is), I'm glad to live someplace that has gorgeously changing seasons, but also isn't too grueling in any one of them.

I LOVE springtime in DC. This area is ridiculously lovely in spring. The tulips, azaleas, dogwoods, magnolias... Dripping with prettiness.

I love Great Falls on the Potomac. As I've laughed with my California family, that kind of dramatic natural beauty is not something we "Westerners" are used to seeing on the East Coast (where the charms are not absent but generally are more subtle)!

I love my walkable neighborhood. We can walk to grocery stores, restaurants, a Metro stop (which DH commutes through), many bus stops, parks, a library, friends' houses, etc etc etc. It's a delight. (And it's Silver Spring, FYI, which takes more than its share of bashing here, too!)

My least favorite thing about the DC area is probably the DC-haters. Come on, folks. I hate moving to new places and I NEVER wanted to leave Boston, but I made an effort to learn to love it here, and now it's been 5 years and I really do. I fail to understand the people who say it's hard to meet people here or that "everyone's" rude or awful here... people are people! If it's not working for you, you're not looking in the right places or trying hard enough. Truly. There are lovely people in every city on the planet. And it's so rude to bash a perfectly nice city that other people lovingly call "home," just because it's not where you came from, or it's not New York or your small hometown in Iowa or whatever else the complaint is.

Count me in, DC lovers! I love it here!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I love the parks -- the big ones like Rock Creek Park and Wheaton Regional/Brookside Gardens -- and also the little ones. I grew up near LA and the playgrounds/neighborhood parks density is WAY higher than where I grew up. It's fabulous.

I love the museums and zoo, and I LOVE that they're free.

I love the Metro. Yes, it could be better, but again -- grew up in LA! Just HAVING a Metro system that can get you lots of places is fantastic.

I love the milder winters... I lived in Boston for years before moving here. I loved Boston and still do, but (as fun as the occasional blizzard is), I'm glad to live someplace that has gorgeously changing seasons, but also isn't too grueling in any one of them.

I LOVE springtime in DC. This area is ridiculously lovely in spring. The tulips, azaleas, dogwoods, magnolias... Dripping with prettiness.

I love Great Falls on the Potomac. As I've laughed with my California family, that kind of dramatic natural beauty is not something we "Westerners" are used to seeing on the East Coast (where the charms are not absent but generally are more subtle)!

I love my walkable neighborhood. We can walk to grocery stores, restaurants, a Metro stop (which DH commutes through), many bus stops, parks, a library, friends' houses, etc etc etc. It's a delight. (And it's Silver Spring, FYI, which takes more than its share of bashing here, too!)

My least favorite thing about the DC area is probably the DC-haters. Come on, folks. I hate moving to new places and I NEVER wanted to leave Boston, but I made an effort to learn to love it here, and now it's been 5 years and I really do. I fail to understand the people who say it's hard to meet people here or that "everyone's" rude or awful here... people are people! If it's not working for you, you're not looking in the right places or trying hard enough. Truly. There are lovely people in every city on the planet. And it's so rude to bash a perfectly nice city that other people lovingly call "home," just because it's not where you came from, or it's not New York or your small hometown in Iowa or whatever else the complaint is.

Count me in, DC lovers! I love it here!

I love enthusiastic good-hearted transplants.

[Anonymous]

I love that one neighbor is from Honduras and the other is from South Korea. I love that my son's daycare provider is from Afghanistan. I love that when he goes to the park, he plays with a culturally diverse group of children. Growing up in northern Minnesota where there may have been 5 minority students in my high school class of about 650, I really value diversity.

[Anonymous]

"I love enthusiastic good-hearted transplants."

Me too. I grew up here so I take a lot for granted in the area.

[Anonymous]

I LOVE to look at how DC votes in national elections. There is something so comforting about such a large block of democrats.